The Hedgehog Penis: Structure, Habits, and Disorders

We've had timid questions asked about many aspects of the male hedgehog penis. We skirted the topic in our article Exploring The Male Hedgehog. The focus of that piece was to explore all the nuances of a male hedgehog. However, in this article we'll be getting down to specifics about male sexual organs and more specifically, the male hedgehog penis.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Our gratitude goes to Jenna and Matt Perlick for allowing us to use their picture of Crackerjack for the article feature cover. They own and operate Prickle Pack Hedgehogs in Illinois.

CAUTION! This article contains graphic pictures of actual hedgehog penises. If you are uncomfortable with seeing hedgehog genitalia or you have young children around you that are too young for this mature topic, please heed our warning that this article is graphic.

Many people in the hedgehog community have attempted to describe how a hedgehog penis looks in its erect state. Probably the closest description we've heard is that the tip looks like a flower. In fact, if you've ever seen a cala-lily, the two look very similar. It kind of gives the term “dew on the lily” a whole new graphic spin.

When you look at the structure of a hedgehog's penis, you've got to wonder how all that fits into their penile sheath! Within the penile sheath, the penis structure consists of a prepuce, which is similar to the foreskin in adult males (that haven't been circumcised). And the penile structure that emerges from the prepuce is a shaft at the end of which is called the meatus (often called the glans penis). On each side of the meatus are lateral horns. All of that makes for one bizarre looking penis! You can get a good view of it in the picture of Murray.

A male hedgehog's testes are not external like many other mammals. Instead, a hedgehog's testicles reside within their body, in a cavity before their anus. This cavity is called the para-anal cavity. In some males, the testes are quite pronounced and actually hang slightly when they walk even though there isn't a testicle sac. Quilly is like that. However there are other male hedgies where it is difficult to tell that they have testes at all. Regardless of whether they are large or small, they produce copious amounts of sperm.

In 2000, the Journal of Reproduction and Fertility published a paper titled “Reproductive characteristics of the African pygmy hedgehog, Atelerix albiventris“. That paper revealed the sperm count of three different male hedgehogs. The sperm was taken from all areas of the testicular structure and the total counts were surprisingly large.

Also, if you look at this table, the hedgehog with the largest testes (by mass), didn't have the largest sperm count. It's also noteworthy that the hedgehog with the largest amount of body mass didn't have the largest testes mass. There is no correlation between size and count. Kind of like the male human, huh? We've always wondered how in the heck do you count sperm!?! Some things are better left a mystery.

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What Makes Hedgehogs Get An Erection

In the absence of a female hedgehog to induce an erection, it kind of makes you wonder why it would even happen. Obviously they can't tell us about it, so all we can really do is draw conclusions from other males in the animal world that can speak – the human male.

Apparently, erections just happen for no apparent reason even in babies and toddlers. It's not a sexual response at that age…which is a huge relief! That doesn't occur until they reach puberty, which is sometimes referred to as the age of sexual maturity. We'll talk about the sexual maturity of hedgehogs in the next section, but let's finish this discussion.

So to bottom line it, hedgehogs can get erections for any reason or no reason at all. The picture of Poopoy shows him getting an erection in his sleep. This is something that men do frequently throughout the night. Some hedgies are what we playfully call “frequent fliers” because of how frequently they get an erection and have hedgehog boy time. Quilly is a “frequent flier” and literally gets excited from eating!

We probably should have discussed it in our article Exploring The Male Hedgehog, but the topic is appropriate here as well. The elusive age of sexual maturity for a male hedgehog is all over the map. If you were to ask five different hedgehog experts when a male hedgie reaches sexual maturity, you would get 5 different answers!

Let's look at some that come up at the top of the search engines. According to Lafeber.com, male hedgehogs sexually mature between 2-6 months. And poor misinformed Untamedscience.com cites 1 year when they become sexually mature! Sadly, there have been many oopsie litters born because of misinformation. This punctuates the need for ethical breeders who are experienced at separating litter mates before accidental pregnancies happen.

We've heard of males sexually maturing at 6 weeks old and causing accidental pregnancies with their sisters and even their mother! When it comes to hedgehog sexual maturity, Just like humans entering puberty, some are early bloomers and others are late. When it happens it happens, and the breeder needs to be prepared to separate them as soon as they are weaned.

There's one thing that frequently shocks new hedgie parents of male hedgehogs. They usually respond with either astonishment, disgust, or disbelief when they discover that their male hedgehog masturbates (otherwise called hedgehog boy time).

Some hedgie parents have never seen it happen with their male hedgie. But that doesn't necessarily mean that their hedgehog isn't obtaining pleasure from their penis. Most hedgehogs tend to be very private about masturbation. And yes, many females do it too. Typically what goes on under the fleece stays under the fleece.

A less frequent habit that centers around the male hedgehog penis is the practice of humping. Although it's rarely seen, there are some hedgehogs that will hump their toys or their fleece. They just have an extremely high sex drive and this is how they exhibit it. But as we said it's rare.

Most hedgie parents would prefer not to know that their hedgehog is having boy time. It tends to completely shatter their idealistic image of this adorably cute quilly ball of innocence. We get it! Honestly, the first time we saw it, we were both grossed out and shocked. But when you stop and think about it from a logical standpoint, you get over it. After all…the Creator of the universe made them sexual creatures (and us too), so who are we to judge?!

You can probably already guess. Hedgehog boy time! It just goes to show you that too much of a good thing isn't so good. The picture of Theodore shows what his vet believed was too much masturbation activity. If your hedgehog is a “frequent flier” then there's the risk that they may irritate the penis and/or penile sheath.

Short of having their penis surgically removed, it's unlikely that they'll stop this behavior. And if you're contemplating having that surgery, you'll likely find that most vets won't do it unless there's a constant repeat history of self-induced penis irritation or infection.

Of course, even if it were surgically removed, your hedgehog still may attempt to self stimulate. Theon (above) bit his penis off having vigorous boy time and still attempts to self stimulate. So there's life after loss of their penis, but it may mean more frequent vet checkups. Beth told us she has Theon checked every couple of weeks.

There are things that you can do to help reduce the risk of hedgehog penis problems that are avoidable. One common issue that can occur is small particles getting lodged between the penile sheath and the penis. This can happen with sand baths. In fact, any small particulates can be a problem. You might want to avoid small paper shreds or granular type litter, which could also get lodged in your hedgie's boy bits. For Quilly, we use paper towel to line his litter area and then use Yesterday's News in his actual litter pan.

Another issue we've seen is a hair or thread that gets wound around the hedgie's penis. As a result, it remains engorged and cannot recede back into the penile sheath. Don't panic if this happens! It's important to keep their penis from drying out, so a warm bath will serve that purpose and may also loosen the binding. If it doesn't, then a vet visit in order. The vet's office should tell you what to put on it to keep it moist while you're getting your hedgie in to be seen.

In its simplest terms, myxoma is a tumor that typically is associated with heart valves. In the paper, Myxoma of the Penis in an African Pygmy Hedgehog, a tumor was found along the penis. Tumors are rarely found directly on a hedgehog's penis. However, it's not uncommon to find in other genital regions of the male hedgehog, such as the testicles.

Often when blood is seen in the urine, it often indicates hedgehog UTI symptoms. However, that's not always the case. It can actually be a crystalline structure lodged in the urethra of a hedgehog's penis. The sharp edges of the crystal can cause irritation, bleeding, and/or infection. A hedgehog doesn't necessarily have a UTI when they have this issue, but they often go hand-in-hand. It has been hypothesized that either too much protein or too much calcium can cause crystalline stones to develop in the kidneys. Stones usually travel downstream, so to speak.

We've covered a lot of ground regarding this topic. There are so many questions hedgehog owners ask about this particular part of their male hedgehog's anatomy. But many are too embarrassed to ask. Therefore, it was important that we push past the uneasiness and bluntly discuss issues that can occur. While male hedgehogs have their own set of peculiarities, they are no less endearing. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us or leave your comments.